School supplies drives

Each year the Foundation organizes a collection of school supplies to be distributed among schools with high numbers of students from low-income families and minorities.

In 2016, Baileys and Glen Forest Elementary schools were benefited with backpacks and a considered amount of school supplies. These deliveries were possible thanks in part to the valuable collaboration we received from Wells Fargo, an institution that has joined our work and makes a remarkable effort to give back to the community.

Team members in over 10 Wells Fargo branches in the Greater Washington, DC area – Fairfax South, Alexandria, Prince William, and Mclean districts– got together to collect pens, pencils, notebooks, book bags, and many other school supplies which were distributed among both schools mentioned above.

The managers at each participating branch and the Greater Washington, DC Latin Connections TMN co-chair, alongside La Fundación Los Niños de María, Inc., helped organize the drive and deliver the supplies to the schools.

Each school received three big boxes full of supplies; such supplies are often needed to be distributed among low-income families that have recently moved to the community, usually after the school year has begun. Often times these families cannot afford to provide their children with the needed supplies to start school. Most school supplies donated to the schools at the beginning of the school year become depleted in the first month according to the social worker and/or parent liaison, making the remainder of the school year very challenging.

This delivery of school supplies provided a much needed relief to the employees of the schools, because now they were going to have means to provide assistance to the students needing supplies to be able to attend school.

Board members from both the Greater Washington, DC Latin Connection TMN – Sandra Batres; Nancy Ayala, service manager; and Jesse Bonales, regional banking district manager – and La Fundación Los Niños de María, Inc., got a chance to visit the schools and learn about their programs and their needs. “It was a proud moment when we represented Wells Fargo in front of our community and present these supplies to these very needy schools,” says Sandra. “They were extremely appreciative for the donation and thanked us a million times.”

The objective of La Fundacion Los Niños de Maria Inc. is to be able to benefit each year at least three schools with a high population of low income families and minorities.

By 2017 and in the years to come, we hope to be able to count on the support of more business institutions so that the number of backpacks, shoes, uniforms and school supplies we provide to our local schools would be larger and benefit a greater number of low income student populations in our communities.

If you would like to be part of this particular activity, please contact us at 202-352-0286, 703-600-9463 and by email at: palobonito48@yahoo.com or marlene@losninosdemaria.org – our plan is to make the collection of school supplies a yearly event.